2020 CATALONIA OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- January 16-19, 2020
- Club Natació Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain
- 50m (LCM) course
- Meet Info
- Heat Sheets
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
Mireia Belmonte did not disappoint during the first finals sessions of the 2020 Catalonia Open, taking gold in both the 400 free and 200 IM. In the 400, Belmonte entered as second seed behind Melani Costa but raced to a first place finish touching at a 4:14.54. Maria de Valdes took silver in a 4:16.55 and Paula Juste Sanchez took bronze in a 4:16.78. Top seed Melani Costa fell to sixth in the final, swimming a 4:20.08.
Belmonte returned in the 200 IM and defended her top seed, winning another gold with a 2:17.20. 400 free bronze medalist, Paula Juste Sanchez trailed Belmonte slightly, taking silver with a 2:18.16. Jessica Vall came third, swimming a 2:18.68.
Lidon Munoz joined Belmonte as double gold medalist this morning, taking the top spot in the 100 fly and 50 free. Munoz finished the 100 fly in a 1:00.96 to take half a second off her prelim swim from yesterday. She was joined on the podium by Alba Guillamon for silver and Lidia Huette for bronze.
Munoz’s second swim of the night was the 50 free, which she won in 25.76. That was slightly slower than the 25.52 Meet Record that she swam on day 1, but was fast enough to clinch the top spot. As the point of the evening-prelims, morning-finals format of this meet is to help athletes prepare for the Olympic Games, which will have that schedule, Munoz may have gleaned some valuable data from her slower finals performance. Marta Gonzalez came touched second with a 26.40 and Ainhoa Campabadal was third with 26.85.
Munoz is starting off this Olympic year strong and will continue to show off her sprint versatility in the 50 fly, 50 back and 100 back and 200 free as the weekend continues.
Carles Coll and Joan Lluis Pons each won two medals during the first finals session of the meet. Coll was victor of the men’s 50 free, swimming a 23.25 to beat out Alberto Lozano (23.39) and Atlas Guerrereo (23.90). He also reached the podium in the 200 IM, with a 2:08.09 for bronze. Gold in the 200 IM went to Joan Lluis Pons, who swam a 2:06.15 to take the top spot. Silver in the 200 IM was Francisco Javier Chacon with a 2:07.28.
Pons also took silver in the 200 back with a 2:07.04 behind Jan Giralt’s winning 2:03.87. Izan Cubillas was third with a 2:07.59.
After a second seed finish in the prelims, Miguel Duran raced to a 400 free victory, taking four seconds off his prelim swim to win in 3:52.67 and break the Championship Record. That was nearly 5 seconds better than the rest of the field: Ferran Julia Tous was a 3:57.02 for silver and Albert Escrits Manosa, who was top seed going into the final was third with a 3:58.01.
Paula Juste Sanchez was the only triple medalist of the morning. As previously mentioned, she took bronze in the 400 free and silver in the 200 IM and went on to pick up a third medal with her silver in the 200 back, behind Chistina Garcia.
Additional Day One Medalists
- Men’s 4×100 Freestyle: Gold – CN Sabadell (3:27.38), Silver – CN Sant Andreu (3:29.63), Bronze – CN Terrassa (3:29.99)
- Women’s 4×100 Freestyle: Gold – Sant Andreu (3:51.39), Silver – CN Terrassa 1 (3:56.39), Bronze – CN Sabadell (3:56.74)
- Men’s 100 Breast: Gold – Joan Ballester (1:04.18), Silver – David Benitez (1:04.47), Bronze – Ignasi Bernaus (1:05.90)
- Women’s 100 Breast: Gold – Jessica Vall (1:10.13), Silver – Ehari Alcauzar (1:13.37), Bronze – Laura Diaz (1:13.42)
- Men’s 100 Fly: Gold – Alberto Lozano (54.78), Silver – Mario Navea (56.75), Bronze – Francisco Javier Chacon (56.96)
